The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Home leg mistakes will not be repeated
Saints midfielder vows FK Trakai won’t be given space in return game
Midfielder Chris Millar claims St Johnstone made their Europa League opponents look better than they are but won’t repeat the mistake in Lithuania.
The Perth men fly out to the Baltics this week looking to overturn a 2-1 deficit from the first leg of the first qualifying round tie against FK Trakai at McDiarmid Park last Thursday.
The Saints midfielder, who got muchneeded game time in the 3-0 home friendly loss to Aberdeen on Saturday, insists they can get the win by two goals that they require to prevent their continental adventure coming to a screeching halt.
Millar said: “I thought we made that team (Trakai) look better than what they are.
“They have some decent players but a few times we cut them open and had chances to at least get a draw out of it.
“When we go over there we can’t be gung-ho but we know we can create chances against them while also keeping it tight at the back.
“As I said, they have good players who can punish you but I really don’t think they are as good as we made them look.
“I would be lying if I said I didn’t think we could do this.
“I know it’s going to be difficult and they have a really good record at home but we have to believe we can do it.
“I think we have enough quality in the team to get a result over there.
“We have put ourselves in a position where we have to win by two goals – that’s the bottom line.
“We have beaten a team like Rosenborg before and, no disrespect to them (Trakai), that is a greater achievement than winning on Thursday would be.
“I thought we sat off them too much and when you get in their faces there are mistakes in them.
“Any player, whether they play for Real Madrid or Trakai, will look good if you give them too much time on the ball and that’s something we need to address.
“We have to get in their faces, be more aggressive and really make it as difficult for them as possible.”